The Making of John Ledyard: Empire and Ambition in the Life of an Early American TravelerYale University Press, 1. okt 2008 - 224 pages During the course of his short but extraordinary life, John Ledyard (1751–1789) came in contact with some of the most remarkable figures of his era: the British explorer Captain James Cook, American financier Robert Morris, Revolutionary naval commander John Paul Jones, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and others. Ledyard lived and traveled in remarkable places as well, journeying from the New England backcountry to Tahiti, Hawaii, the American Northwest coast, Alaska, and the Russian Far East. In this engaging biography, the historian Edward Gray offers not only a full account of Ledyard’s eventful life but also an illuminating view of the late eighteenth-century world in which he lived. Ledyard was both a product of empire and an agent in its creation, Gray shows, and through this adventurer’s life it is possible to discern the many ways empire shaped the lives of nations, peoples, and individuals in the era of the American Revolution, the world’s first modern revolt against empire. |
From inside the book
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Page vi
... some middle altitude he hangs like a being indigenous to no sphere or unfit for any . -John Ledyard , A Journal of Captain Cook's Last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean ( 1783 ) contents Acknowledgments ix A Note on Quotations xiii Introduction ...
... some middle altitude he hangs like a being indigenous to no sphere or unfit for any . -John Ledyard , A Journal of Captain Cook's Last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean ( 1783 ) contents Acknowledgments ix A Note on Quotations xiii Introduction ...
Page vii
... Cook with Honor 43 IV Seeking Distinction with the Pen Aboard the Resolution 69 V Following the Revolution Home 83 VI From Author to Fur Trader 101 VII Becoming a Traveler in Thomas Jefferson's Paris 124 VIII Across the Russian Empire ...
... Cook with Honor 43 IV Seeking Distinction with the Pen Aboard the Resolution 69 V Following the Revolution Home 83 VI From Author to Fur Trader 101 VII Becoming a Traveler in Thomas Jefferson's Paris 124 VIII Across the Russian Empire ...
Page 1
... Cook transcribed the Tahitian word ) that resembled a tailor's pattern for cutting fabric . Ledyard had acquired these while sailing with Cook in the South Pacific . He carried a heavy overcoat , boots , and socks made from reindeer ...
... Cook transcribed the Tahitian word ) that resembled a tailor's pattern for cutting fabric . Ledyard had acquired these while sailing with Cook in the South Pacific . He carried a heavy overcoat , boots , and socks made from reindeer ...
Page 3
... Cook's final voyage , published in 1783 — Ledyard's fortunes improved only slightly . And yet , after his death in 1789 , he would come to be among his nation's best - known sons . In part , this was a matter of timing.2 The fluid ...
... Cook's final voyage , published in 1783 — Ledyard's fortunes improved only slightly . And yet , after his death in 1789 , he would come to be among his nation's best - known sons . In part , this was a matter of timing.2 The fluid ...
Page 4
... Cook, in postrevolutionary Philadelphia, or in Jefferson's Paris, Ledyard found his way into the conversations of the elite and the powerful. Language in its written form also has a central place in this story. Ledyard had fully ...
... Cook, in postrevolutionary Philadelphia, or in Jefferson's Paris, Ledyard found his way into the conversations of the elite and the powerful. Language in its written form also has a central place in this story. Ledyard had fully ...
Contents
1 | |
9 | |
23 | |
43 | |
IV Seeking Distinction with the Pen Aboard the Resolution | 69 |
V Following the Revolution Home | 83 |
VI From Author to Fur Trader | 101 |
VII Becoming a Traveler in Thomas Jeffersons Paris | 124 |
VIII Across the Russian Empire | 136 |
IX Despotism and Human Nature in Catherine IIs Russia | 153 |
X To Africa | 170 |
Memories of the Traveler | 186 |
Notes | 195 |
Index | 217 |
Other editions - View all
The Making of John Ledyard: Empire and Ambition in the Life of an Early ... Edward G. Gray No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
Abigail aboard the Resolution Africa African Association appeared Banks Beaufoy Britain British Captain John Catherine chap character China colonial command Connecticut River Cook’s Cook's Last Voyage crew Dartmouth College death despotism Discovery eighteenth-century Eleazar Wheelock elite Empress England ethnic European expedition explained French frontier fur trade Hartford Hawaiian History human Ibid imperial Imperial Russia Irkutsk Islands Jared Sparks JCJC John Ledyard John Ledyard's Journey John Paul Jones Jones journal labor land letter Library London luxury marines merchants military moral Munford native nature naval navy never North America North Pacific northwest coast officers Pacific Ocean Palais Paris patrons perhaps political reprint returned revolutionary Russian Empire Russian Far East seemed Shelikov ships Siberia simply slavery slaves social Society South Squire John suggested Syphax Tahitian tattooed Thomas Jefferson tion Unalaska vessels Watrous West Whitman William writing Yakutsk yard York young